What it's like...

Having a fourth baby...

It means that my third child spends the first half of the day in his jammies, even if we have errands to run.

 

It means that by now we're so used to this that when I sit down to nurse the baby, Chris will bring me a glass of water without us talking about it.

It means that I get to hear that Joseph told his class that he "has the most beautiful baby at home."

It means that I might just use a brown paper bag for a diaper bag and that I will probably forget to put diapers in it, but I WILL remember the sling.

It means making dinner whenever I get the chance, even if that means dinner is ready at 10:30 am.

It means that we have a level of familiarity with labor/delivery high enough for us both to know when to reach down and bring the baby up ourselves and that the midwife will write, "delivered into Dad's arms" in the chart.

It has meant letting go of Daniel being "the baby," and seeing him in a different way; more competent, more helpful and more grown up.

It means a whole lot of love and affection and hearing Matthew say, "Baby James is so cute I just want to bite my finger!!!"

And a whole lot of this...

Honeycake

James Edwards

Born  December 10th, 5:34 PM

8 pounds, 3 oz, 20 3/4 inches 

 

You look simultaneously big and tiny...

He's Here!

Will post pics soon.

...

Might as well knit.

Here's Matthew playing "Daddy"...

And here I am looking coyly at the camera, 39 weeks pregnant...

Lately

It's that rare moment when I'm up before my kids.  This has maybe happened twice in seven years, and while I like the idea of starting my day with peace and quiet, sleep trumps everything.

That inward-turning end-of-pregnancy thing is happening and I haven't had much to say/post as I get ready for this new little guy.  I've been trying to do a better job of preparing the boys for what to expect, and now that it's the third time around I think I have a good idea of what they need to know.  Information often comes to me at dinner or in the car.  Yesterday I realized that I hadn't told them about the possibility that they could wake up in the morning and Chris and I would be gone at the hospital, which is obviously important to know.

Anyway, I think they're ready.  The co-sleeper is ready.  The car seat is ready.  The diapers are ready.  I'm HALMOST (Danny's word for "almost") ready...

I only have one more goal that I want to complete before the baby arrives now that I've finished this quilt for the peeps who fixed my computer...

Here's Danny watching it spin...

And here it is all wrapped up...

This thing was huge and there were a few times when I was cramming it through my machine when I thought it might put me into labor, but I finished it on Tuesday.  It's king-sized.
Speaking of labor, here's a list of things that haven't put me into labor yet...
1.  Unloading 8 bags of groceries.
2.  Kneading bread.
3.  Vacuuming.
4.  Basting a king-sized quilt.
5.  Putting snow-gear on Danny.

Yesterday Danny and I had this exchange...
Me:  Okay, "Thumb in the thumb hole, fingers all together, this is the song we sing for mitten weather."
Danny:  (shoves whole hand into mitten)
Me:  No, start over.  Put your thumb in here.  No.  Here, stick your thumb out.  Now put it in here.  No, here, make a fist, now put your thumb in here.  Feel this spot?  That's where your thumb goes.  No, put it in here.  Feelthehole?That'swhereyouputyourthumb. Dannyrighthereputyourthumbno,stickoutyourthumbputyourthumbin (This goes on for three to five minutes.)
Danny:  (Looks straight in the eye, calmly,)  I don't care about this.
Me:  Oh...    ...  ...  Okay.  (crams hand into mitten and sends him on his merry way.)